Japanese unexamined patent application publication No. JP-A-2007-72421 describes a related art image forming apparatus. The related art image forming apparatus radiates a laser beam on an electrified photosensitive drum, to thus reduce an electric potential of an area irradiated with the laser beam and generate an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum; supplies the electrostatic latent image with a developing agent; and transfers to a sheet a developing-agent image that is generated as a result of a developing agent being supplied to the electrostatic latent image, thereby generating an image on the sheet.
The related art image forming apparatus has a plurality of photosensitive drums, a plurality of corona discharge electrification units that electrify the respective photosensitive drums; and a plurality of process cartridges each having a process frame that supports a corresponding photosensitive drum and a corresponding electrification unit and that has an exposure aperture for exposing the corresponding photosensitive drum. Specifically, in this apparatus, the respective process cartridges are arranged in one direction in such a way that one of a pair of adjacent process cartridges opposes an electrification unit of the other process cartridge. The electrification unit has a discharging unit which extends along a surface of the photosensitive element and which is configured to electrify the photosensitive element by discharging and an electrification frame that supports the discharging unit and that has an aperture for orienting the discharging unit toward the photosensitive drum and the outside.